Control
by Schingiuire
Summary: Alucard sensed weakness in the magic that held him collared to his young master Integra. Seeking a game of wit, he pounces. Securing her hold on him, Integra reigns in his disobedience.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing or any of the characters.

Notes: Enjoy! If anyone is interested, I run a discord server for writers/roleplayers focused on Hellsing/Dracula. Let me know if you'd like an invite!

Her left eyelid twitched slightly as she slept. He could only wonder what she was dreaming. The vampire stood at the side of her bed, his red eyes glowing slightly in the darkness of Integra's room. While he could easily look into her mind and seek her dreams, he did not wish to influence them, not tonight. Tonight was special. Alucard watched her sleep, a soft expression upon his face as he turned, moving silently away to her window where he pulled the curtains back. The moonlight fell over her sleeping form like a spotlight, finding only her within the dark room.

This night looked the same as the one five years ago, when Integra fled for her life from her uncle. She had fled into the lower levels seeking a white knight only to find a chained demon. Alucard turned from the window, his eyes still half lidded from gazing at the moon and remembering. She was awake now, sitting up and watching him with narrowed eyes. She still did not trust him, and having woken after worrying dreams to have him standing over her with a grin many times, she had taken to sleeping with a pistol loaded with silver tipped bullets. Not enough to do any real damage, but enough to hurt quite a bit.

"I told you to stay out of my dreams," she growled, her young, oh so female voice never faltering in its commanding tone. She was blaming him for something, he could see it in her eyes.

A slight smirk spread over his face as he bowed his head to her respectfully. "I have not entered your dreams this night, Master. Tell me, what am I being accused of?"

She did not answer, only glared such a look as to freeze hellfire. Chuckling, he approached the side of her bed once more, hands limp at his sides as he gazed down to her. He had neglected to wear his hat, only the orange sunglasses of which his red eyes peered through at her.

"I want to play a game," he purred, tilting his head to the side.

"What are you doing in my room? I have told you countless times you are to stay out."

The vampire's grin never faltered. His little master, so brave to stand up to him these five short years without ever really knowing why he bowed to her. Now she was eighteen, and a woman. No longer would he play little games with her. She would be his now. Alucard slipped forward, letting his body ease onto the bedside, his hands now resting folded in his lap as he crossed his legs. The orange tinted glasses slid down his nose, allowing him to peer over their rims. It was something he knew she hated.  
Integra felt something strange in the vampire, her hand already slipping under the pillow to seek the comforting cool metal of her pistol.

"You will leave my room and you will do so now, vampire. You will not step foot in here again without my permission. Is that understood?" Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned forward, leering at her.

"Crystal," his deep voice purred, though he showed no immediate signs of leaving her room as ordered. "Looking for this, perhaps?" He lifted a hand, her pistol glittering in the moonlight as it dangled between his fingers.

Integra narrowed her eyes, her hand pulling away from the pillow to her snatch her glasses from the bedside table. "What are you playing at, monster?" she growled, glaring daggers at him.

Alucard chuckled, crushing the gun with a simple flex of his hand and tossing the mangled mess to the side. "Thus far I have obeyed you out of respect for your family. You have no real control over me. This," he lifted a hand to peel down the front of his shirt, showing an edge of the large brand over his chest, "Will not protect you as the others would have you believe."

The vampire leaned forward, reaching out to brush at her chin with his finger. "You have not made it recognize you as the master. I could snap your neck," he growled when she suddenly struck, her fist cracking against his jaw.

"I will grind you to dust, vampire! How dare you come to me with these fantasies and games of yours."

Alucard snarled, lunging forward. He pinned her to the bed, cutting off her tirade and snapped his teeth an inch from her nose. "I don't think you fully understand the situation, little Miss Hellsing. You have no control over me. What keeps me here? Haven't you ever wondered? Or have you been arrogant enough to just accept my submission these past five years?"

Her teeth were bared back at him, yet she didn't struggle. Animals frenzied when their prey fought back, and Alucard was no different. She had seen him tear other vampires apart for trying to fight. "You cannot hurt me. You are not allowed to, Abraham's seal will not let you." Her voice was matter of fact.

"No, you are wrong. It will not let me hurt my master. Richard was of the family line, and I believe I hurt him well enough. You are not my master yet. The seal is hibernating, and you have failed to awaken it." Integra felt keenly aware of how dangerously sharp his teeth were as they clicked together so close to her face. Yet she did not let fear control her. She kept her heartbeat slow, her breathing regular, but her eyes smoldered with fury.

"If this is all true," she began, her voice never faltering, "Then why have you stayed here? You could just walk away."

"Why would I? Your little organization would follow me. You set my blood on fire," he leered, lowering his head to brush his nose against her throat. "Your family earned my respect. But now it's time for you to take the reins. Or you could just lay still and give up. Things will be so much easier."

Integra closed her eyes, her upper lip curled in disgust. "I will make you pay dearly for this," she growled at his laughter.

Parting his jaws, Alucard scraped the tip of a fang over the pulse along her slender neck. Her blood sang to him, and the seal on his chest suddenly flared to life, pulsing once then falling dormant once more. Alucard snatched himself back from her, the burning pain slowly fading. Her will was strong.

Integra panted, taking advantage of the vampire's sudden strange actions to roll away from him. She kept an extra gun in her desk in the office.

"Do you know what runs, Integra?" Alucard called, his laughter mocking her and feeding her fury. "Prey runs!"

The bastard would suffer! Her bare feet were almost silent as she raced across the second floor toward her office. How dare he address her without respect, and to call her prey. But something about what he spoke of was true. She could remember no reason for him to obey her, she had only accepted his submission, assuming he was tamed by her father. Why had she never questioned it before? The symbol on his chest, as if carved by a white hot silver knife. Why did she never question any of this?

The door to her office was locked, and she slammed her fist uselessly against it. The keys were in her room. The demon was probably gloating over her short sight. Would he really kill her? He had never shown her any hostility before, other than the stupid games he played to irritate her. But this was more than a game, he had never openly defied her, and certainly never had his fangs so close to her throat.

She turned, pressing her back against the door. She could wake some of the staff, but there was no guarantee that he would hurt others who got in the way. Alucard stood across from her, leaning against the opposite wall.

"Does having a gun give you a sense of power?"  
Integra snapped straight, her hands curling into fists as she glared at him. "What?"

The vampire leaned forward, his glasses balanced on the edge of his nose. "Twice this night you have sought those weapons to bring me under control. Abraham never needed them. Are you so weak that you must hide behind twisted metal and bullets?"

"Why are you doing this?" she snarled, taking a step forward, her eyes flashing.

Alucard flinched, his eyes narrowing as he felt the seal flare to life again, as it had that night five years ago.

"Because I refuse to obey a weak little girl. I do not bow to children."

She was before him in two steps, her hand taking hold of the front of his shirt. She jerked downward, and he allowed her to pull his head to her level. The slap echoed through the empty hallway.

"I know where Abraham stored his toys, monster. Do not tempt me to use them."

Alucard feigned boredom, a heavy sigh releasing from his lungs. "Again you hide behind weapons and Abraham's threats. Fight me with something that is your own. Fight me with your will," he purred.

The vampire leered, a low growl echoing in his throat as he struck. She dodged, using her hold on him to shove his head away allowing his teeth to catch nothing but a scrap of her clothing. Integra rushed down the hallway, mind grasping at possible solutions.  
Laughing, Alucard made chase. He leaped as she rounded a corner and his form landed hands and feet against the wall, crouching as if he sat upon a horizontal surface, then rebounded after her. Integra cursed herself, despising the sudden feeling of helplessness that had overcome her. She was the leader of Hellsing, dammit! She'd be damned before she allowed her own monster to play these games and attack her. Alucard had obviously not learned to never bite the hand that fed him, or maybe he had but never followed that rule. She was sure Abraham had brought the vampire under control, but what of her father?

Integra ducked into a room, closing the door behind her and leaning against it as she panted heavily. It was futile. Alucard was a master vampire, a perfectly evolved hunter. He could find her even if she was calm with only the sound of her heart to guide him.  
She closed her eyes, forcing her heart and breathing to slow and her mind to think clearly. Alucard mocked her threats and use of weapons. What could she fight him with? She could easily reach a gun loaded with silver but the chances of getting a clear shot and not missing were slim. She needed to find another way. Earlier he said to fight him with her will, but what exactly did that mean.

Grinding her teeth, Integra opened her eyes to find Alucard standing several feet across from her and watching with a twisted grin across his face. She found herself suddenly disgusted with the creature, sickened by everything he was and represented. Even more was a realization that she relied on this thing to fight her battles for her.

Alucard was on her then, hands no longer gloved, and fingers tipped with curving black talons as they curled around her upper arms. "Fight me or give up, girl," he purred, voice a deep gravel tone. "Set me free."

Integra bared her own human teeth at him, hands curled into fists. "You will release me and you will do so now," she hissed.

The vampire chuckled, tilting his head and burying his nose into her hair, against her throat. "Such spirit, and yet the seal does not recognize you as master. Why is that I wonder." His lips parted, teeth lengthening as he listened to her blood pumping, so close to his reach. She would be his now and forever. Abraham would roll in his grave that the vampire he had worked so hard to control escaped through the incapable fingers of a child.

Integra's eyes widened, realization suddenly dawning on her. Alucard was ruled by blood and will. He mocked her will but not her blood. The vampire had only tasted of her blood once, bowing to her shortly after that moment when her will dominated his.

She shoved him back with a smirk, eyes narrowed. "I have a game of my own I want to play, demon," she snapped. "It's called punish the dog."

"Oh?" he purred, crouching slightly, a leer spreading over his face. Twin rows of deadly sharp teeth glinted back at her through the dim light.

"You never served my family out of respect. The only reason you were ever here is because you were bound here," she stated, blue eyes narrowing as his smile widened. "But now your leash is frayed because the seal is dormant, just as you say, like a plant that hasn't been watered. You are taking your chance to kill me and free yourself. The only thing is you want to play, like a sick mangy fox."

Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms. It wouldn't be enough, it would only bruise but not cut the skin well enough to feed him. "The seal needs to be fed blood, isn't that right? Your master's blood."

Alucard barked a laugh one arm striking forward to wrap around her throat and lift her body into the air. "Now the game isn't fun anymore, but I thank you for the entertainment." Alucard was never one for keeping his enemies around past their entertainment value. That was when they became dangerous. He should have killed Abraham countless times before the man captured him, but he underestimated the human. He would not do so again. He would eliminate every Hellsing between him and freedom.

She grit her teeth, not fighting his grip to breathe. Instead, she reached up with one hand, finding his clawed fingers and pressing her palm against one until she felt blood trickle forth. A quick sweep downward created a significant gash in her hand.  
The vampire's eyes widened as he caught the scent, pupils dilating. Integra's grimace curled upward into a grin as he pulled her close, unable to fight his own instincts. Once in reach she pressed her hand against his chest, letting her blood soak into his shirt then into the seal.

Alucard's hand snapped open as the seal flared to life. Integra felt it as well, landing on her knees, taking several deep breaths. The fraying leash that she had not quite noticed in her mind was back in full.

The vampire glared, eyes shifting in shades of red, orange, and yellow, burning in his fury. Integra did not even allow herself to fully recover before tightening the mental leash and commanding the seal to punish her insubordinate vampire.

His scream echoed through the household. Integra stood over his writhing form, looking down with cold, merciless eyes. "Bastard," she hissed, burying a kick in his side though realizing it would do little to hurt him.

"Is this why my father locked you away?" She didn't allow him to answer, keeping pressure on the seal, filling his body with the consequence of her wrath. "Clever , to make me believe that I wasn't strong enough to control you, but you were wrong." Her fingers itched for a weapon, something to make him crawl and beg.

Breathing slowly, she allowed herself to calm, though her eyes never lost the quality of cold steel. She released the seal, allowing the vampire a moment of respite. He rolled to his knees, panting though he didn't need to breathe, and looked up at her, a defiant smirk painting itself over his lips.

"If not for Abraham's work, you could have never defeated me."

Blood dripped from her hand as her fist tightened, yet she ignored the pain. "If not for Abraham's work, you'd be a pile of ash on the four winds," she struck back. "Because he would never have allowed you to live unharnessed." Turning her back on him, she tore a strip from her night gown, wrapping her hand in the cloth. "You aren't a threat anymore, vampire. You are a shell of an existence, nothing more than a toy and a tool that I use at my pleasure. Go to your cell, the same I found you in, and wait there. Do not call me, nor leave until further order. We have a few things to discuss."


	2. Chapter 2

Alucard paced about the cell, energy flooding through his body. Blood no longer soaked the front of his shirt, his body and the seal having already absorbed every speck with a greedy fervor. The vampire cursed himself, feeling the magic built into the room cage him in, keeping his body solid and contained. He was not sure how much of this particular room's workings Integra understood, or if she had sent him here only because she knew he hated it.

Feeling his fangs lengthen, Alucard clenched his jaws, letting his teeth cut into his gums and fill his mouth with the taste of his own demon blood. She had surprised him, caught him off guard. Spinning as he reached one wall, striding with angry steps to the other side of the room, coat flapping behind him, he tried to calm himself as he knew his anger would do nothing but dig this hole deeper. The vampire wasn't sure how she figured it out, but she had done it. He cursed his own lack of control, so sure he had won the game that it would be alright to have a little fun. That fun had backfired and cost him his chance.

He sensed Integra's approach, sliding a smirk onto his lips as she entered. In her hands she held an item he was all too acquainted with, Abraham's whip. The ivory handle almost seemed to glow in the dull light of the cell's ceiling bulb. She paused, not saying a word as she toyed with the lash, woven silver braided together. Alucard's skin crawled at the sight of it.

Integra did not miss the vampire's lingering gaze. Wearing a smirk of her own, she let him imagine and contemplate whatever thoughts would enter his undead mind before she spoke.

"You mock me for using Abraham's methods and tools against you," her voice was stern, angry as the night's events renewed themselves in her mind. Integra's now bandaged hand wrapped fingers in a tight grip about the whip's handle. "But that is what you fear, isn't it, Alucard? You fear Abraham more than anything and you are terrified with the worry that any master you get could become him." She captured his eyes in her gaze, locking her will against his as she felt a sudden anger rolling from him. "You're afraid I will become like Abraham, so you mock me, trying to make me too prideful to do anything he would." Leaning toward the vampire, who did not move, only glared with eyes full of hate, Integra chuckled and continued. "Because what Abraham did worked."

"Abraham was a fool," Alucard growled in reply, not letting his eyes waver from hers. So the battle was still on then. "Your father was a worse fool. Abraham thought he could tame me. Is this what you intend to attempt?"

"No, I don't," she replied, slowly curling the whip, folding it carefully as she thought. "From what I've read of Abraham's journals, he had tried to tame you but failed, so he tried a different strategy. You're a monster. You're not civilized and anyone who tries to force that on you is following a blind trail to failure."

Integra closed her eyes, crushing her will around the seal, and smirking at the sound of the vampire's body collapsing to the floor. Alucard ground his teeth together, fighting the urge to voice his pain while his muscles trembled and his body shook. Integra looked on, eyes reflecting the cold, hard anger which had built inside her.

"You have trouble remembering your position," the Hellsing commented, twisting the whip in her fingers as she watched him quiver against the unflinching seal she had closed around him.

"I will kill you," Alucard hissed darkly. He did not move as she closed the distance between them and crouched to snatch hold of the front of his clothing. The blazing red flame of his eyes burned into her, but she did not flinch, instead she pushed him down, keeping his head below hers.

"You will be begging at my feet before we are through," she replied with a cold snarl. Releasing him, she stood, backing away a step. Standing back straight, whip in hand, she looked down to him, releasing the seal's punishment as she voiced a stern command. "Undress."

As the pain faded Alucard stood in one sweeping, graceful motion. He towered over her, lips twitching as he fought the instincts that screamed for him to attack her. To strike now, with the seal in full power, would prove disastrous. He had only moved to attack his masters a bare handful of times. Punishment for attacking the master was something to be avoided at all cost.

Integra was not intimidated by his height, or the murderous look in those molten eyes. "Do not make me repeat myself," she growled, flexing her fingers around the lash curled within her fist. She wanted to push him from whatever high horse he had perched himself on, to make him crawl into the mud. To humble the king of vampires was, perhaps, an impossible quest. Integra was not above giving it her best attempt.

She relaxed her fingers, letting the whip lash drop to the floor, her hand still curled around the handle. It was an open threat. Alucard grit his teeth, backing up a single step as the whip was unfurled. Their stalemate was broken, and the vampire swept himself into an elegant bow before her.

"As you command, Master," he purred in reply.

Integra's eyes narrowed at his response, feeling as if he were mocking her in some way. The creature made no motion to remove his clothing, yet the fabric began to sloth from him as if he were shedding a layer of skin. Coat, slacks, vest, it all gained a consistency like that of thick liquid, syrup as it dripped from his form.

Alucard stood before her, shedding his clothing in such a way to unnerve her, to remind her of who and what she was dealing with. The Hellsing, so used to dealing with an obedient vampire, one who only showed this face to his enemies, was indeed unsettled by the sight. Eyes widened was the only physical sign of whatever she felt at his behavior.

Crouching before her as the last of what had been his clothing dripped from his body, the vampire leered to her, his head tilting back and to the side. This game was going to be much more fun than he had originally anticipated. Perhaps there was a way to salvage the night's plans after all.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a heavy tension in the air, a pressure both of them could feel. Their wills were matched in a silent battle akin to the butting heads of bulls. Neither would back down, and they equally knew this. Integra may hold the power of his leash, but the No Life King was nothing to be trifled with. Alucard stood, waiting with an ever growing smirk as Integra controlled her shaken composure. The night's challenge was still playing out, and if he could break her will he would shatter the seal regardless of her refreshing it.

Integra released a held breath, letting her anger fuel every muscle and word. "Kneel," she commanded, one finger stabbing toward the ground at her feet. "That shouldn't be too difficult. You've been scraping yourself against the ground for decades now."  
The vampire lowered his head, silken ebony hair cascading over his face. He wanted to resist her, but the seal would push him to obey taking the option to disobey from him. "Give me a power to bow to, and perhaps I will, girl," he replied in a dark, elegant hiss.

"This is your final chance," she growled, ignoring his bait. Tightening her grip on the whip's handle, Integra threw her arm forward. Like a snake, the lash rose to life, hissing across the stones as it rose and snapped out to the vampire's exposed skin.

Alucard snarled, eyes flashing bright, hot ruby as he flung himself to the side. A sharp crack echoed through the air as the whip bit into the empty space where the vampire had once stood. The sound brought old memories and a powerful fear to the surface. This was not Abraham, but a girl, barely beyond childhood and removed from Abraham by generations. Alucard growled darkly, shutting away the past with frustrated irritation.

She had seen his fear, the horror in his eyes as the whip had come for him. The emotion was there for only a moment before it was replaced by a hate she had not seen before this night. Integra chuckled, flicking her wrist to curl the lash across the stones behind her.

"You won't dodge the next strike, creature. Obey me and kneel. Now."

Keenly understanding he could no longer delay this order with anything in his favor, Alucard grudgingly slid to a knee, yet kept a smoldering glare locked upon her face. Most humans avoided direct eye contact with a vampire. Integra never broke his gaze, looking down at him with her back straight.

Integra began to walk around him, a metallic scraping sound following her as she dragged the lash across the stones. "You are cornered, vampire," the Hellsing observed. "Ensnared in magic, locked in a cage, and confronted by a force you loathe obeying but has every power over you."

The vampire kept his gaze forward as she walked around him, the hairs across his nape lifting as he heard her pause behind him. "I've been told similar things by many men in the past. Should I point out they are all dead now?" Alucard dropped his head, leveling his glare to the stones beneath him.

"I want you prostrate." Her words were spoken in a growl, a very fierce threat.

"No," Alucard hissed back, his reply quiet as he spoke a very damning word to a Hellsing master.

He could feel her rage, like a warm flame across the naked flesh of his back. It brought a grin to his face. She was using her rage as a tool, but too much and she would be blinded by it. There was a sound of shifting cloth and the whip's motion. Alucard was no fool, he anticipated this moment. As Integra began to bring the whip down against his back, the vampire rolled to his side, hissing as the silver lash slammed into the stones before him.

"Seems I've proved you for a lair," he barked, hooking a foot around her heel and pulling the girl's legs from under her. "The second strike missed as easily as the first!"

Integra grunted as she fell, sucking air through her teeth when her injured hand connected with the floor as instinct fought to break her fall. The whip was dropped, clattering to the stone, the sound weighing heavy on her chest. Alucard moved in a blurred motion, on his feet and kicking the hated tool to the far side of his cell.

The girl cursed, feeling her heart pound against her chest. "You delay the inevitable," she growled, pushing herself into a sitting position and dusting prison grime from her clothing. Integra kept her eyes away from the grinning devil before her, not wanting to give him the satisfaction to see how much his continued and very frightening defiance was unnerving her.

"Get on your knees," she snarled, cutting through the cell's dry air with a tone of bitter rage.

Alucard tossed his head back, leering at the Hellsing. She looked up then, witnessing him standing proudly, a shark toothed sneer decorating his face. He behaved like a damned stallion. This vampire was a proud king, a monster of monsters, she could see it in his eyes. Why should he bow to her? She would have to remind him why.

When he did not obey, Integra counted five seconds, taking her time in standing. Once to her feet, she closed the seal tight around him, searing his nerves with white hot punishment.

The scream which issued forth from his lungs was like nothing upon this earth. Integra nearly covered her ears to block out the agonized sound. Alucard dropped to the ground like a limp doll, writhing about and slashing at the empty air surrounding him as if he were fighting off an enemy only he could see.

Integra stood with her back against the wall, watching the suffering of her insubordinate servant. Closing her eyes, she worked to reign in control of her emotions. She understood all too well if she lost control of herself, reason and logic would follow in short order. It was a fatal flaw of her vampire servant, and one she refused to emulate.

Crossing her arms, Integra observed the vampire's punishment, a stern expression over her features. The brand over his chest glowed bright, and she swore there was a near invisible wisp of vapor rising from it. Alucard's dagger teeth had lengthened, black claws extended as sharp tools of death. She was witnessing, Integra realized, a desperate instinct of the vampire to free itself from pain. No amount of teeth, claws, or physical power could fight away ancient magic.

She mentally counted a full sixty seconds before she released him. He lay like a stricken animal, half curled with his back to her, trembling and panting as he fought to recover. Integra allowed him no time to recuperate. Her strategy was to keep him occupied with either a choice to obey and be rewarded, or disobey and feel her wrath.

"Sit up," the Hellsing sternly instructed. There would be no room for him to delay with threats or games, not anymore.

His reply, strained and tinged with a growl, wasn't in English, but the tone told her all she needed to know.

"Haven't had enough yet? So be it." Again the vampire's agonized cry crashed into the stones when Integra constricted the seal about him, her expression a mask of unbroken will. "I can do this all night, servant," the Hellsing's voice rose over his misery. "I doubt you can hold out that long."

Counting two minutes, Integra repeated her missive upon releasing her creature from his punishment. "Sit up."

Still half blinded by pain, Alucard offered no resistance, verbal or otherwise, as he pushed to sit himself upright. Swaying, he fell to the side, collapsing in a fit of dry heaves.

Integra was impressed. For him to be in such a state the pain must certainly be intense, and yet he still found the energy to fight his masters. However, she did not let up.

A slight push on the seal sent a jarring reminder of her order. Grunting, Alucard panted, controlling his body's trembling as he pushed himself into an upright, albeit stooped, sitting position.

"That was for disobeying my order to kneel," she snapped. Pushing away from the wall she had been leaning against, Integra boldly approached him, fists clenched at her sides. "Because of your obstinate behavior, my whip is across the room." She paused before him, looking down to the still slightly shaking creature. His head hung low, face turned to the ground. Crouching, Integra reached out, tangling her fingers into the wild, black mane adorning his crest and snatched his head up to face her.  
Despite what he had just been subjected to, his demon eyes glowed bright, fire shades shifting about in his burning rage. Staring straight into his eyes, Integra saw the vampire's elliptical pupils narrow as he focused on her. She had his full attention.

"Fetch it," she growled into his face, their noses a bare inch apart. "Fetch it like the damned dog you are, and bring it back to your master."

Shoving back as she released her grip, Integra smirked as he nearly lost his balance, a coughing growl issuing from his throat. Alucard had no intentions of delivering the item which he hated most into her hands. They both knew it. Nothing showed a master's control or a slave's position more than being required to retrieve a device of punishment.

Integra had effectively placed him into a very difficult position. He must either defy her by remaining where he sat and fight the inevitable agony or he must submit and by action of returning her whip, admit he was hers. Neither option was especially desirable. Integra moved to the very back of the cell, continuing to face him as she crossed her arms and waited. Alucard shifted, his panting falling silent as he looked over his shoulder to where the whip lay at the base of the doorway steps.

Tonight's game would be over once it was back in her hands, and there would be nothing left but to face a reckoning. Swearing under his breath, the vampire rolled to his feet, swaying on the first step but growing stronger with each remaining. With great trepidation, he approached the whip, crouching to wrap thin, clawed fingers about the handle. His hackles rose at the feel, smell, and sight of it. Carefully avoiding any contact with the woven silver lash, he carried it to her, dragging the silver behind him.  
Integra felt a swelling of victory in her chest as she watched the vampire slowly move toward her. She had quelled his resistance for this night. Alucard stopped several feet before her, and she held out a waiting hand. Head low and eyes downcast, Alucard extended the handle to her, but relaxed his grip just before the ivory touched her fingers. The whip clattered to the floor at her feet, Integra's surprised expression all the reward he needed.

"As you commanded," he replied, a gloating half smirk growing across his face.

"Indeed," she bit in reply, crouching to gather the whip, though she picked up the lash end. Kneading her fingers around the woven silver, Integra glared daggers at him. She sensed he was much less aggressive at this point, however he still displayed considerable disrespect and obstinance.

Integra smirked at him, gathering lash into her hands. "I'm pleased to see your behavior is improving. Now you just need to be reacquainted with your position."

Alucard frowned, leaning back as she stepped forward, closing the short distance between them. Raising her hands, she threw the looped silver lash about his neck, keeping hold of both ends as a leash and pulling the improvised collar snug against his throat. The vampire screeched and pulled back as he tried to retreat but the Hellsing kept a firm grip.

"Down," she ordered with a snarl, not waiting for him to obey. Crouching, she placed a foot on the leash and used her grip on the end to pull straight up. Alucard was snatched to the ground, on hands and knees as he clawed wildly at the whip lash around his throat. An audible hissing and vapor emanated from the contact, blood beginning to drip to the floor.

"Very good!" Integra mocked. "I've never seen you jump to obey so quickly unless it involved killing someone."

He fought and pulled against her hold, but given all his strength he was at her mercy caught as he was. Integra was sure several of his stranger cries were frenzied invectives from languages she could only guess upon. The vampire's claws scraped at the silver coils, but burned his hands each time he fought for a grip.

She had him now, Integra well knew. More so than minutes before, he was at her mercy. Leaning close to his ear, the Hellsing sneered. "Heel, boy." With that, she stepped back to the wall, pulling him with her. As they reached the wall, Integra raised him to his knees and, with a knee pressed between his shoulders, held him there while dropping the leash ends of her whip. Working quickly, for she knew he could throw her off given any chance, she grabbed one of the vampire's wrists, lifting it over his head and secured it in one of the old wall manacles fastened into the stone. Repeating the same motion with his remaining wrist, Integra backed away from him, removing the whip from around his throat.

Alucard swallowed, wincing as he shook his head in some effort to ease the burning encircling his neck. Integra observed the effected skin was blackened, as if badly burned by flame. Bits of it had peeled away when the silver was removed. Blood oozed and ran in thin trails across his shoulders and back. Several veins had turned black with poisoned blood and were visible beneath skin leading away from the burns. Silver was certainly a great enemy to the vampire, a poison to the creature's existence.

He didn't seem to realize it at first, only when he tried to touch the wounds at his throat did Alucard discover he was on his knees, shackled by wrists and facing the wall. Snarling, the vampire pulled hard at his bindings, throwing his body from side to side, a slim hope that the old metal may break or its fastenings crumble. This night was not a night of luck for the vampire, for everything held secure.

"God dammit," he hissed, tensing as he heard Integra move behind him. The sounds of her gathering the whip into a hand froze his blood, bound hands clenching into fists.

Gritting his teeth, Alucard flinched when he felt her fingers brush through his hair. She crouched behind him, brushing several locks of hair away from the fiend's slightly pointed ear.

"You are a servant to this house and this country," she began in a soft, yet stern tone. There was a hidden rage, an oh so slight tremble to her words which foreshadowed to him the misery he had yet to endure. "You are a slave to me, Alucard. My orders are your law, which will, from this night forth, bring swift and merciless punishment when ignored or broken."

Running her fingers through his mane, she tilted her head back, her own blond hair falling in a lightly tangled mass over her shoulders and chest. "Let's review your behavior tonight, hm?"

Alucard rested his forehead against the stone wall, glaring his frustration into the very rock itself. "Why not just whip me until you feel vindicated?"

Integra rested the curled whip on the floor beside her, hooking one hand around the vampire's jaw to forcefully tilt his head back against her shoulder while her free hand continued to stroke through the silky strands of his hair. "I certainly intend to," the Hellsing replied. "It will happen on my terms, however. Remember, vampire, I am your master."

Her hand slid from his jaw, palm sliding across his chest. She could feel the scar tissue from her family's binding seal engraved there, pausing as she felt the sigil's center beneath her hand. Alucard snatched to the side, a savage growl reverberating in the air. Her free hand dropped from his hair, curling over his shoulder to once again take hold of the creature's jaw in a firm grip. Holding his form against her chest, keeping her palm pressed into the sigil's center, she could feel a pulsing of power answering her touch.

"I do believe it recognizes me as the master now, you God dammed beast." Integra continued to hold him, sensing direct contact of her flesh against the creature's exposed mark of magical binding was bringing Alucard great discomfort. "Now it's your turn. This time, I don't think I'll miss."

Releasing him and gathering her whip, Integra stood, taking several steps away from him. "You entered my room without permission, sought to end my life, and defied me on multiple accounts. Am I missing anything, servant?"

Alucard grit his teeth, shifting as the uncomfortable burning in his chest began to fade. "I wasn't aware you needed reasons, Master," he growled, dropping his head and pressing his forehead into the wall.

Integra smirked, rolling her shoulder and snapping her arm to send the whip lash biting deep into the vampire's back. He snarled, throwing himself to the side but was held tight in his restraints. There was no escaping or dodging now. Allowing him no moment to recover, Integra struck a second, third, and fourth time. Lines of blackened, bleeding flesh crisscrossed over his shoulders and upper back. As she continued without comment, his roars of anger began to shift into cries of misery and pain.

Only when her body cried for relief with stiffening muscles, did she let the bloodied lash hiss across the floor to rest curled around her feet. Blood puddled beneath the vampire as he hung limp, soft sounds of a wheezed panting reaching her ears. Stepping directly behind him, she began to curl the whip, watching him flinch weakly at each sound as it scraped across the stone and was lifted into her hands.

"Who do you belong to?" she asked, leaning over his limp form, resting her whip wielding hand against the stone where he could easily see it if he were to tilt his head to look up at her. As it turned out, the subtle threat was not necessary.

"You, my Master," he whispered hoarsely, a powerful tremor passing over his frame.

"See to it you remember that in the future," she replied, tone quite pleased as she moved to release his wrists. "You will remain here until I feel you've had enough." With that, Integra turned on a heel and strode from the cell, slamming the door in her wake and leaving Alucard in the pitch darkness of the cell, which made little difference to the vampire.

Falling to his side, Alucard trembled in the throes of pain as the silver wounds across his mangled back continued to torment him. "Hell hath no fury," he chuckled, coughing as pain stabbed through his spine. "Ahh, and here I thought you would be no fun at all, my Master Integra," the vampire's insane voice whispered in amusement though the darkness. "What a great game we played, I could have desired no better ending." Shifting, Alucard grinned toward the door. "We will play these sweet games again, make no mistake on that. For you enjoyed them as much as I."


End file.
